Re: Tech Talk

I just purchased a 46" LCD Samsung 650 last night. Along with that I already have a Xbox 360, Wii, and the same Panasonic model blu ray player (which my dad is getting free for X-mas from work) as hawkings and tomaz. Question is, what kind of sound system should I look to finish off my entertainment center?

Re: Tech Talk

I Almost bought that 46" 650 instead of the 40 inch 750. How ya linking it?

for $300 you're not gonna much more than a home theater in box. I spent nearly $1000 just on my subwoofer in 1999. I would assume at the $300 price point most of those all in one deals are gonna be pretty similar.

Originally Posted by Hopeless Semantic

If there was a Frank Lucas of DnB links, Donald would be him...

Donald is not only the Frank Lucas of the board, but also the resident Buddha.

Originally Posted by Bud Luster

All in favor of an Underworld / High Contrast US co-tour say "AYE!"

"Real Drum & Bass is not something that sounds like a 17 year old rock band who have just listened to Slipmatt on their first E & decided to make Drum & Bass" - Marcus Intalex

Re: Tech Talk

Yeah, at that price point you will be looking at a boxed system like Donald mentioned. Here is one that got good reviews for a little more than your price point.

I would recommend that you try to piece together a system as you can afford to, as a lot of these box systems have proprietary connections that make them kinda worthless when you upgrade to purchasing speakers individually.

Re: Tech Talk

Originally Posted by hawkingvsreeve

It looks as if Donald is the person to ask here as I stick with mp3s and Apple products for the most part. I am not sure if the Zune can support flac or not, but it does have some pretty cool features and a sizable hard drive. If you are talking about going portable that is.

zune can't presently support hacks. i haven't checked, but you can hack it to pieces, so I'm assuming that you can probably get flac to play if you really want to.

Re: Tech Talk

Re: Tech Talk

Originally Posted by Bosco

I would rather not go over $300

You can't reallyget a decent sound system for 300... There are some OK monitors out there that you can get for about 250-300... Then you just need a splitter or receiver to route everything... If you don't have anything for audio at all, you are going to be hard pressed to do anything decent for under 300... And I'm just talking stereo, never been a big fan of most 5.1 setups, mainly because anything reasonable is a mess or just won't work with my setup.

Re: Tech Talk

for under $300, you can occasionally get a decent Onkyo 2.1, 5.1 or 7.1 setup. 3 or 4 times a year they get rid of a lot of their inventory, and you can pick up a $800 refurbished system with a good warranty for $150...

Re: Tech Talk

bosco, my advice is to do the following:
wait, and save up. if you picked up a new HD, the built in speakers will sound better than the ones that came with your old CRT.
or you can hook up any old home stereo for slightly improved sound. but at any rate, save up. a properly set up six or seven channel pure digital system is totally worth waiting on. anything less (i.e. a pro-logic [no dts] home-theater-in-a-box) will just leave you wanting more, but out of pocket.
look at spending a minimum of that $300 just on your receiver. there's no need to go totally crazy, but a lower-end denon or yamaha will set you up just fine for a medium sized room. you want at LEAST 40 watts RMS per channel, a line-level (unpowered) connection for a powered subwoofer, hdmi in AND out, and coaxial AND optical S/PDIF in AND out. in terms of speakers, look at again, a minimum of $300 on a subwoofer. your left, right, center, and surround speakers can be pieced together from craigslist, basements, pawn shops, or anywhere for next to nothing. just make sure they fit your ohm and watt ratings, and they'll still kick the intestines out of HTiaB speakers. my left, right, rear center and center channels on my main 6.1 system were free. they're 50 watt realistic brand from the 1980s, and they have a lower signal-to-noise ratio than the speakers that came with the 550 watt panasonic assbox I have downstairs.

I know I sound all douchey, but man, you have good taste in music, and obviously care about your ears, and I'd hate to see you end up unsatisfied with your sound. there's nothing friggin worse than unsatisfying sound.

Re: Tech Talk

Bosco, I have to agree. Start small and build your way up. Use that 300 and buy a pair of fronts or a receiver. Slowly fill out with center, surround and subwoofer. It may take a year or two or longer but you'll be happier over time. A good rule of thumb is to try and spend amounts equal on audio and video.

Last edited by Donaldj; 12-09-2008 at 06:02 PM.

Originally Posted by Hopeless Semantic

If there was a Frank Lucas of DnB links, Donald would be him...

Donald is not only the Frank Lucas of the board, but also the resident Buddha.

Originally Posted by Bud Luster

All in favor of an Underworld / High Contrast US co-tour say "AYE!"

"Real Drum & Bass is not something that sounds like a 17 year old rock band who have just listened to Slipmatt on their first E & decided to make Drum & Bass" - Marcus Intalex

Re: Tech Talk

Originally Posted by frozen pilgrim

I know I sound all douchey, but man, you have good taste in music, and obviously care about your ears, and I'd hate to see you end up unsatisfied with your sound. there's nothing friggin worse than unsatisfying sound.

This is very true, and why I waited for a while to purchase speakers. I am only running a stereo system at the moment but that is because I spent $300 on each speaker. I figured that I listened to enough music that I owe it to myself to be extremely satisfied with my speakers.

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OK, I think you guys convinced me.

It's just I know that my cousin has one of those all-in-one kits from Sony back in early 2000 or 2001 (dont remember the model number) and it was quite impressive, at least my ears thought so. And I believe he said he didn't spend over $500.

Any who, that Sony sound system he has, has been out of use for the past two years and stashed in his garage at the moment (his TV broke and never bother to get it fixed) so I'm sure I could steal that from him and use it as a substitute for the time being.

Re: Tech Talk

Originally Posted by Bosco

I just purchased a 46" LCD Samsung 650 last night. Along with that I already have a Xbox 360, Wii, and the same Panasonic model blu ray player (which my dad is getting free for X-mas from work) as hawkings and tomaz.

I was mistaken. I got a Philips and forgot. anyway the Philips works just fine.

Re: Tech Talk

Re: Tech Talk

I'm thinking of buying an abacus. The one I'm looking at is made of implant-grade titanium with laser-engraved counting notches down the side. Alternatively, I'm also considering stockpiling dead man's hands and counting on the fingers. The first option is much more expensive but requires desecrating fewer burial sites. Thoughts?